Th r e e Tr i o S o n at a s

Ba s e d o n Co n c e rto s b y

Arcangelo Corelli
( 1 6 5 3 17 13 )
A r r a n g e d f o r AT B r e c o r d e r s b y R . D . Te n n e n t

R. D. Tennent 2007
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.5 Canada
License. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/
by-sa/2.5/ca/ or send a letter to Creative Commons, 171 Second St., Suite 300, San
Francisco, California 94105, USA.

Foreword
Although the universall Admiration of Corellis Works have allmost equalizd his Meritt, yet
there are many Gentlemen Lovers of Musick who want a true Taste of his perfections, his
Compositions being for the Violin only, if so agreeable an Instrument as the Flute could be
accomodated with the same benefitt, it would add to the Honor of the Composer, the Pleasure
of the performer, and supply that Instruments defect of good Musick, which has been so much
of late Complaind of. This thought was the only motive of the following Transposition . . .
John Walsh (London, 1720)

Can a concerto grosso be performed with just three recorders? Part of the answer comes
from the title page of Corellis Opus 6, published posthumously in 1714:
Concerti Grossi
Con duoi Violini, e Violoncello di Concertino obligati, e duoi altri Violini, Viola, e Basso di
Concerto Grosso, ad arbitrio, . . .

i.e., two violins and a cello are obligatory but additional strings are optional. Indeed,
except for the optional ripieno parts, the concertos are stylistically similar to the forty-eight
trio sonatas by Corelli published in Rome between 1681 and 1694 (Opp. 14) and it is
conceivable that most of the material was first composed for use in trio sonatas. In any
case, the Opus 6 works may certainly be performed as if they were trio sonatas.
Numbers 9 to 11, arranged here, are three of the four concerti da camera (chamber
concertos) in the Opus 6 set of twelve. Each consists of a suite of dance-based movements
in the same or related keys, introduced by a stately prelude. Some of the dance movements
are preceded by a short adagio; in No. 11 (Sonata II here), an adagio is extended by an
andante largo.
But what about the use of recorders instead of strings? Although many transcriptions
of Corellis sonatas and concertos were published for flutes (i.e., recorders) in the 1700s,
these assumed a conventional basso continuo, typically cello and keyboard. But there
is evidence1 that recorder ensembles existed at that time, though very little music was
composed specifically for them in the baroque era. It is presumed that they played music
originally written for other instruments. So it seems quite likely that recorder ensembles
were playing Corellis concertos and trio sonatas in the 1700s, and it is not inauthentic
to continue this tradition today. The arrangements here are in the original keys, but a
few octave transpositions were necessary to fit the ranges of the recorders. In three of the
movements, rapid string figurations were streamlined for performance on recorders.
Similar ATB recorder arrangements of trio sonatas by Corelli may be found in the
following publications (both available in the U.S.A. from Magnamusic2 ):
Six trio sonatas arranged for ATB recorders, by Arcangelo Corelli, arranged by R. D. Tennent.
Provincetown Bookshop Edition No. 40, Provincetown Bookshop, Provincetown, MA (1999).
Sonatas from Opus 2.
Twelve trio sonatas arranged for ATB recorders, by Arcangelo Corelli, arranged by R. D. Tennent.
In four volumes: AvP 11417, The Avondale Press3 , Vancouver, BC (to be published in the
fall of 2007). Sonatas from Opp. 1, 3, and 4.

R.D.T.

1 http://www.recorderhomepage.net/families.html
2 http://www.magnamusic.com
3 http://www.theavondalepress.com

ii

Three Trio Sonatas

for ATB recorders
Arrangement by R. D. Tennent

Arcangelo Corelli (16531713)

Sonata I
1. Preludio

Andante largo

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6, No. 10
c R. D. Tennent 2007 Licensed under a Creative Commons AttributionShare Alike license.

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Da Capo al Fine
8

Sonata II
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Sonata III
1. Preludio
A

Largo

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4. Gavotta

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6. Minuetto

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Da Capo al Fine